


Dream Thief

by AnxiousBabyNightmare



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-10
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-06-08 09:17:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15240201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnxiousBabyNightmare/pseuds/AnxiousBabyNightmare
Summary: A prompt and collaboration with @lunacatzuniverse. Thomas feels a little strange after he can't remember the dream he had last night. He goes into the mindscape for answers.





	Dream Thief

Roman bent down and put his hands on his knees as he began gasping for breath. He was in the dreamscape, and after a long night of crafting, he had finally concluded Thomas’ dream for the night. Usually, an original dream could take a few hours to make, on other days when Roman wasn’t feeling particularly inventive he could use repeated dreams, common fantasies many people experience. On rare occasions, he did not have to make a dream at all, the subconscious, a separate being from the others, warning that they needed to send Thomas a message and as such crafted a dream of their own.

But tonight was special, tonight Roman made a special dream. A complex narrative, interesting characters, landscape, action… romance. It was the kind of dream that had inspired great artists in the past to create something beautiful. It is creativity’s greatest pride to create such a thing, and tonight Roman had made his own. 

…well perhaps he was overexaggerating a bit. But it was still frikin’ cool!

Roman stood up tall and wiped the sweat from his brow. He held up the sphere, the encapsulated dream and marvelled. “Ah! This dream I made Thomas is probably my finest work yet! Surely he’ll be able to draw inspir-"

His declaration was cut short as he felt a presence in the room suddenly, it felt…cold. He spun around, a shadow cast across his face and he squinted at the sudden change of lighting. His eyes accustomed and caught a glimpse of what was in front of him. He stepped back.

“Oh no…”

**

Thomas scratched the back of his head, a fuzziness had loomed in the back of his mind ever since he woke up this morning and he wasn’t sure what was causing it, or more importantly how to get rid of it. He let out a groan in frustration, out of all the days for this to happen, there was so much stuff to do today, recording episodes, Joan and Talyn would arrive soon to brainstorm new ideas…

‘And that dream...Aww man! What was that dream about?’

As he poured himself another cup of a coffee he paused for a second, an idea dawning on him: was it possible that these were connected? Was the fuzziness the cause of the missing dream? Or did the dream cause the fuzziness?

‘Correlation does not mean causation’, he mimicked Logan in the back of his mind and he chuckled but as he cupped the warm mug he couldn’t let the thought slide…

‘Hmmm~ well I have been meaning to speak with him anyway, might as well ask him now.’ Thomas closed his eyes and stood up straight, following what the sides had told him to do when he wanted to do go to the mindscape: he breathed in slowly and allowed particular aspects of him to come to the forefront of his mind “warm smiles… healthy advice…. Steven universe.”

…

He felt the weight of his body drop down, he let out a shriek as he attempted to stop his coffee from spilling everywhere, though the realisation of where he was soon distracted him.

“What do you know… it worked.” Thomas was standing in a white room… was it right to call it a room? In all honesty, the placed looked endless, nothing but a sea of white… 

well apart from a small area laid out in front of him. A carpet lay on the ground, on top of it was a leather couch and wooden chair, with a coffee table dividing the two. Bordering the edges of the carpet were a set of shelves, filled with both books and Steven Universe paraphernalia.

Thomas walked forward and placed his mug on the table as he marvelled at the site. “This…is how I set up my room for the cartoon ther-"

“Corretamundo hot-dog-orino!” A loud but joyful voice pierced Thomas’ ears as he let out another scream. He turned around quickly to the source of the noise.

“Dr.Picani! You’re… really real!”

“Well… I’m probably just as real as I was before, meaning that I’m not at all, Thomas. You created me.”

“I know that, but it was me playing you, but you’re here now and you’re not me!”

A pause “…Did that make any more sense to you as it did for me?”

“No. not at all.”

“Well never mind that! Hurry and sit down.” Picani gestured to the couch as he himself hurried to the chair, with a twirl of his hand a notepad and pen appeared.

Thomas sat down tentatively “Wow, feels weird being on this side of the room.”

“Now then! What can I help you with today?” Picani asked as he crossed his legs and placed his hands on his knees.

“Uh… well, I guess I’ve been kinda funny today…”

“Well, then I hope you are funny enough to make me laugh.” Picani winked

“Wow…um, yeah. Anyway, I’m also concerned about a dream I had last night. I can’t for the life of me remember what it was about, but I feel like, it was important.”

Picani paused for a moment, chewing the top of his pen as he lost himself in thought. “I think I know what happened.”

“You do?” Thomas exclaimed, “What wrong with me?”

Dr.Picani chuckled “Aw, hey. Don’t go assuming there’s something wrong with yourself. A lot of people forget their dreams, it’s all to do at what point in sleep the dream occurs.”

“What does that mean?”

“Well, you’re aware of the REM cycle. There are different stages in sleep where different things occur. Dreams occur during the last stage, the REM stage, however since a lot of the brain is inactive during this time many dreams cannot be contained in your memory. Dreams that occur closer to the end of the sleep cycle are the ones that are usually retained.”

Thomas nodded, his own mind whirling with questions “Okay then… but how does that explain the fuzziness, I mean I’ve forgotten dreams before, but this feeling isn’t always there.”

Picani sighed “Well, I think that’s probably my creator’s doing.”

“…Me. Or Joan and Talyn?” Thomas gasped “How did they do this?”

“What? No. I was referring to you, but more so a specific part of you.”

“…Roman?”

“Yes. I’m afraid he may be feeling pretty down because of it… In fact, I was kind of expecting you to arrive, so I’ve already thought of a solution for this.”

“Really?”

“Yep, some good ol’ Garnet vision.” Picani cheered, he tilted his head towards the cabinet. “I left it on the shelf there.”

Thomas nodded and rose to his feet, making his way to the cabinet. There amongst the figurines, he found a package wrapped in parcel paper and tied with string. Carefully he pulled the string free and pulled open the paper. An audible gasp could be heard as Thomas lifted the contents, staring in absolute glee.

“This is beautiful… and I know exactly what I need to do.” Thomas turned to Picani “Thank-you for this. There was something else I needed to talk to you about, but this kinda takes priority so… I’ll be back again sometime.”

“Just keep me in your heart and thoughts, that’s all I need” Picani gave a knowing nod, smiling lovingly. 

“Ah! Very fusion-esque Picani. See you soon.” With that Thomas closed his eyes and thought of his kitchen. As he sunk out Picani stared at the place where Thomas had stood. Keeping his gaze affixed he reached for the coffee mug left on the table. 

“Such an eccentric owner… but I wouldn’t have it any other way.” As he attempted to take a sip, he missed his mouth completely, spluttering as the coffee was poured on himself. 

“Ah! Flim-flams!”

**

Once Thomas returned to the real world his mind became set on one goal and one goal only. He marched towards his living room, arriving in his typical spot. He straightened himself out and with a steely gaze called out “Roman!”

The fanciful side shot up like lightning, a pout etched on his face and his arms folded.

Taken slightly aback by the stance Thomas looked to the side in concern. “Roman? You okay buddy?”

He remained mute, shuffling his shoulders in agitation.

“Yeah… don’t expect him to talk anytime soon… Prince sour-patch kid has been like this all day.” 

“Ah! Jesus” Thomas yelped as he turned to the stairs where the voice had emanated from “Virgil, we’ve talked about this.”

“Sorry…” Virgil sighed. He continued, trying to articulate his thoughts by moving his hands. “Uhh…usually you guys are talking so when I jump in with a dry and negative remark… it… doesn’t breach just silence.”

“Now kiddo. We’ve also talked about stopping those bad things you say about yourself.” Patton tutted as he too rose up “Now you know what you need to do.”

“Ugh. Don’t make me say that here.”

“No buts you. Say it” Patton wiggled his finger “Don’t make me get violent~”

“Wow. That was ominous” Thomas recoiled away from the moral side.

Virgil sighed “I...I….” He turned to Patton, who looked on expectantly. The words erupted out of his mouth: “ILoveThomasAndEveryPartOfHimselfWhichIncludesMe!”

“Aw~” Thomas cooed, toying slightly “You’re such a cute little-” Virgil growled “-sorry. Nevermind.”

“Thank-you for saying that Virgil. Now” Patton continued, “I think maybe Roman needs to say that lil’ line as well.”

Roman pursed his lips further, attempting to make his crossed arms pull tighter.

“I’ve actually been quite enjoying this silence, perhaps we could discuss his issues tomorrow-”

“VILLAIN!” Roman screeched, pointing towards the logical side who had just appeared. 

Logan rubbed his ears, obviously not expecting the large outcry “aaand my hopes have once again been dashed.”

“Roman… did you just call Logan a villain?” Thomas questioned, clearly confused.

“Yes! He’s… a thief. A… succubus. You suck all the fun and joy out of things!” Roman exclaimed, gesturing wildly at the calmer side.

“What. What are you talking about?” Logan enquired “I haven’t spoken to you since yesterday evening.”

“Ha! See? he’s lying.”

“I don’t lie. Where would be the logic in that?”

“To cover your butt. You came to me last night.”

“…last night?” Patton asked softly. He was not heard by Roman, who continued his onslaught.

“You came into the dreamscape after I had finished the best. Dream. Ever. And you were all like…” Roman changed his demeanour, copying Logan’s mannerisms “’Oh that’s a nice dream you have. It would be a shame if someone….forgot it’ And then you took out a lighter and you burnt my masterpiece in front of my face.”

“Oh my god, really?” Thomas gasped “That’s awful, why would Logan do that?”

“Exactly. ‘why’ is the pinnacle word here. Firstly what you describes does not sound like something I would say at all, so you’re probably overdramatising. Secondly, why would I do that? I have no reasons to get in the way of your creations.”

Patton sucked his breath in through gritted teeth, a look of doubt on his face “Well…there’s a little problem with your statement Roman.”

“Wha- You’re taking his side?” Roman shouted.

“Oh! Nothing like that kiddo. It’s just that it’s impossible. Logan can’t be awake at night after Thomas has gone to sleep.”

“What? Does that only apply to Logan?” Thomas inquired.

Logan readjusted his glasses “Yes, it’s true. Since REM cycles stimulate the parts of the brain where learning occurs, and as such the place of logic, it is impossible for me to be awake when you are in the process of deep sleep.”

“…and for me to have forgotten the dream means I must have been in that stage of the cycle when the dream was lost.”

“Precisely.”

“Well, I’m not making this up!” Roman exclaimed. He stiffened suddenly “…you don’t think…”

“That Deceit did this?” Logan finished his sentence “Possibly but unlikely, he has nothing to gain from doing such an act either.”

“Well then what happened?” Thomas prodded. Suddenly a snort could be heard “Virgil? You have an idea?”

“Well….” Virgil passed a look across the others, a wryly smile appearing on his face. “…even though he can’t be conscious Logan still is in charge of Thomas’ memories- or at least memories of that variety…”

“So if he can’t be conscious, he did this unconsciously?” Patton suggested.

“Paradoxical. How can I unconsciously make the decision to get rid of Roman’s dre-"

“You’ve been sleepwalking dude.” Virgil interrupted.

Logan quickly turned red, stammering wildly as he tugged on his tie “Wh-I-I don’t sleepwalk!”

Patton bit his bottom lip “Well, it kinda makes sense when you think about it.”

“So, what now?” Roman shouted, his voice intense with emotion “Logan’s going to keep destroying my dreams and we can’t even do anything about it?” 

“Well, I can do something.” Thomas answered. The sides turned to him in curiosity “I went to go speak with Dr.Picani because I felt like something was up and he gave me this.” Thomas holds up a leather-bound journal, the cover a deep blue with golden and silver stars emblazed on top.

“Ohhhhh! It’s so pretty!” Patton squealed.

“Is that… a dream journal?” Logan asked.

“Yes! So, from now on whenever I wake up from having one of your amazing dreams, Roman, I will write down what I remember in this book, then I can use those ideas whenever I need to.”

Roman simply stared at the book in wonder. Soon his features softened, and a small smile returned to his face. “Thank-you Thomas… this is perfect.”

Thomas returned a sweet smile before Logan coughed, gathering people’s attention. “I know I can’t control it per se… but I do really feel…bad about this Roman. I’m sorry that this happens because of me.”

Roman offered him a smile and a nod “You don’t have to apologise. You shouldn’t obsess over what you can and can’t control. I’m also sorry. I jumped to a conclusion that your reasons were malicious. I should have known you’d never do that.”

“Thank-you. That means a lot.”

…

“Awwww! Look at you two getting along.” Patton interjected the silence lyrically.

“We don’t get along.” The two answered in unison

“Android McGee here always has to be so cold…” Roman muttered

With that, the two sides sank out.

“The two of them really aren’t great with expressing feelings about each other, huh?” Thomas mused.

“But hey, that’s what I’m here for!” Patton cheered “I’m feeling really empowered after that, today is going to be the day I get that container back from Roman” He began muttering to himself as he too left.

Thomas sighed “Geez, what a roller coaster.”

“You’re telling me” Virgil chimed in “…by the way you do realise that it’s possible that in your drowsy stupor after you’ve woken up that you won’t actually write anything that makes sense.”

“True but we need a more positive outlook here please.” Thomas called out after him as the anxious side finally sunk out. He sighed again and shook his head. He admired the journal in his hands once more.

“…I think I might go for a nap.”


End file.
